LIBERTY, Mo. –A 10-year old is helping out a family with a sick child he’s never even met. Keanon McNally collected donations at Stocksdale Park for a sick little girl named Nella Grutter on Saturday. Nella was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy when she was just 11 months old.
Keanon’s teacher assigned his class “The power of one project.” The goal is to make a difference with simple actions. Keanon was told of Nella’s story by his mother and decided to put together “Nella’s Play Date.” Plenty of people showed up on Saturday, but it’s unknown exactly how much was raised for little Nella.
Her condition is an inherited genetic disease where all of her voluntary muscles are dying.
“She needs full-time nursing care, we have to suction her frequently, we have to feed her through her tube,” said Grutter.
Baby Nella can’t sit or stand, and eventually she won’t be able to breathe on her own. Most babies with SMA Type 1, which Nella has, die within the first two years.
“My mom had showed me them before, what they were going through, and I felt really bad, and I wanted to do something with them,” said Keanon. “It’s really life threatening, and it’s really, really sad, and we wanted to raise money for their medical expenses and their family,” McNally said.
Editor’s note: Some information used in this story was pulled from a previous report by FOX 4’s Melissa Stern. You can watch her full story below:
